Talking Tech: Are you using Twitter?

Oct. 5, 2013
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Adam Green uses Twitter every day / By Sean Fujiwara

by By Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY

by By Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY

LOS ANGELES - Do average folks actually use Twitter, or is just a tool for the media, celebrities and politicians?

The micro-blogging service lets its users - ordinary people, politicians, celebrities and more - tweet about news events, jokes or anything at all, in 140-character snippets. It has a user base about one-fifth the size of social network Facebook, and more than half that of Google's Google + network.

As Twitter heads toward its initial public stock offering, we stopped by the landmark Farmer's Market here to find out how folks actually use the service.

The bottom line: the folks who didn't use Twitter vastly outweighed the ones who did:

- "I use Twitter every day," said Adam Green of Los Angeles. "It's how I get my news and stay up to date, and let everyone know what I'm thinking."

Twitter, for the uninitiated, lets users post short comments (only up to 140 characters at length) to people who "follow" their Twitter feeds. You decide what to read, by say, signing up for the USA TODAY news feed or following celebrities like Justin Bieber (No. 1 with 45 million followers), Katy Perry and Lady Gaga or your own friends and acquaintances. It's only when you sign up to follow folks that posts will show up on your own Twitter page.

With more than 200 million monthly active users, Twitter is growing - but just how fast is one consideration for investors. When Twitter filed its IPO prospectus this week, it said its user base had grown 44% from a year earlier. But that growth rate was down from 78% from the previous 12 month period.

Here are a few more comments from visitors at the Farmer's Market, which attracts folks from all over the world:

- Russell Hudson of Australia says he never invested the time to learn how to use Twitter. "I'm just used to doing what I'm comfortable with."

- Nicole Barrett, of South Africa, checks in with Twitter a few times a week. "Everybody around the world can see whatever you post. It's really cool to follow celebrities you're fans of. To see what they're up to." She follows Jesse McCartney and cast members from the Glee TV show.

- Jonathan Dubow of Los Angeles checks his Twitter every day for sports. "I get all the scores I need."

- Lesley Davies of New Zealand finds it easy to use Twitter. "Anything that's easy I like." Isn't it hard to write sentences with just 140 characters, like some have said? "Not really."

- Valerie Burt of England likes Facebook so much, she saw no need to spend time with Twitter. "I find it (Facebook) really handy."

- Michael Maloney of Los Angeles told us he only goes out for coffee once a week, and that's how often he turns on Twitter. "People use that stuff to say I'm going out for coffee. I don't get it. It's a great marketing device if you have a business. But people who use social media to be a star in their own life - God bless `em."

Readers: Jump in to the conversation and tell us how you are using Twitter. Tell Jefferson Graham about it in Twitter: @jeffersongraham.